Valuable Visibility: Why the Future of Work Will Reward Who You Are, Not Just What You Do

This conversation with Charity McDonald reminded me why the future of work cannot be reduced to AI tools, job titles, or credentials alone.

The real shift is deeper.

It is about valuable visibility.
It is about demonstrating what you know.
It is about becoming the solution.
It is about building a life and career where contribution, identity, creativity, community, and compensation can finally meet.

Charity brought such a powerful perspective to Two Doctors and a Twist — especially for graduates, professionals in transition, and leaders trying to understand what comes next.

The future of work will not only ask, “What can you do?”

It will also ask, “Who are you becoming — and how are you contributing?”

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Hi everyone, I have a special guest with me today. And I've been following this young lady on LinkedIn, and I think she is just so dynamic. And as a matter of fact, she invited me to one of her um live sessions on LinkedIn, and it was a great experience. But as I have uh watched um Charity McDonald, I am so impressed with her. So, as you guys know, Dr. Jamie is out for the quarter. She's working on this huge project at work and just needed a little time this quarter to focus on that. But she's watching every show, every day, every time we record her show. She's watching it and listening to it. And so she'll be back with us when the quarter starts again. Uh, what is it? October, what is it, July, July. I'm sorry. July, I'm skipping ahead. But I am so excited to have Charity with us here today on Two Doctors and a Twist. And so I am going to uh quickly go over uh what she shared with me on her background. So if you haven't followed Charity McDonald, let me tell you a little bit about her. She's an internationally published author, keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and AI strategist who guides high achievers to have an increase in pay, peace, and power. I love that. Pay, peace, and power, P to the third power. She is the founder, chief learning officer at Crown Institute, and creator of Crown the Crown Framework. Charity supports both organizations and business leaders with learning strategies for more lucrative outcomes, most recently supporting LinkedIn as an AI trainer. Oh wow. Her 15-plus year professional background includes higher education, ed tech consultant at the enterprise level, and executive career coaching. She is presented, she has presented and led training on professional development, learning strategies, leadership, wellness, and uh BIPOP. Okay, B-I-P-O-C, Women's History. And in 2023, guys, she was interviewed by LA Times regarding the impact of AI and the job market. So that was a pretty early time. Recently, Charity has or was selected to join the technical advisory board for the Global Skills Development Council. So we want to know more about that. And uh for the past three years, she has been recognized as a top LinkedIn community voice with nearly 15,000 followers. Her core themes are career fulfillment and faith. You can connect with charity at LinkedIn.com, I-N charities MacDonald on this charity, C-H-A-R-I-T-Y-S-M-C-D-O-N-A-L-D on LinkedIn. So let's get started, Charity. Oh girl, this is this is so awesome. And I just want us today just to have a raw conversation. But first, before we start that, tell us a little bit, dive a little bit more into how you became a LinkedIn voice and why it's so important because Dr. Jamie and I talk a lot about branding and executive presence. So can you speak a little bit more about that?

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Dr. Marilyn. And I'm excited to be a guest today. I definitely follow two doctors in a twist, and I'm grateful to be one of the guests. And yeah, to answer your question, um, talking a little bit about um the importance of branding, why it was important to start showing sharing my perspective on LinkedIn. It kind of just, I don't want to say it kind of just happened, but I made like a decision, a conscious decision that I wanted to share my views. And I had a lot of resistance into doing that actually. So I had a lot of resistance around visibility and sharing different things. And I think a lot of people assume I was on LinkedIn a long time promoting content, and that's not the case. Around I would say the latter part till maybe fall of 2023 is when I started actually proactively making content. So it wasn't that long of a time period. It was just more like I proactively made the decision that I would share my viewpoints. It's a lot of learning. Uh, when I came into it, I was, I still feel like I'm still learning, to be honest, with creating content on LinkedIn because so many things have changed over the last couple of years. But it was important to share my views because I felt there was space to do that. I'm a very introspective person. And LinkedIn kind of allows you to write content as well as with the community voice program, when that was enacted, that was around how much you're producing in terms of um content and writing articles on LinkedIn that the community resonates with. So they pretty much go by that and you're ranking in different categories. I think I was the top voice in over 20 categories that relate to career development and leadership primarily. So they're all in that area, very much related to my experiences. And the branding, I don't even know that I consciously was aware of what was possible. I just know that I was doing the audio events on LinkedIn and from that I've you know been invited to speak. And this is with people, they weren't, they weren't seeing me, they were just hearing me on the audio, and I was very grateful for that. So it definitely expanded my reach in terms of really operating in leadership. Cocurrently, I was working as a consultant. So I worked in career transition consulting and um, you know, was also doing some private coaching with under my own uh business and crown institute. So I felt it was a great way just to share the ways I was helping other people. People really resonated with that. I think I started very much providing education and then it just kind of expanded into other things, you know, supporting people. I'm very faith-based. So a lot of the content that people resonate with pertain to, you know, not just career transition, but life transition as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

That that's that's awesome. I I I love um how you got here because I I think that a lot of people, um, especially professors, and you were saying to me before we got started, a lot of educators are out there talking about things they bring, and we look at more of the influencers, even though you're an influencer, but you're educated, you have a great background, you've written a book, all these things that are just fabulous. But so many people, so many of the educators rather, they're not out here. And we need to hear their voice, we need to see them, we need to know them, we need to have that push from them that brings their expertise and knowledge to the table. But I also feel as though there's a lot they can learn as well. I know for myself, I've definitely learned a lot by doing this. And uh it's it's we educate more, we became educators more than just the classroom. We became educators to those who want to hear what we have to offer and to get that knowledge, use it, and build upon it. So, with that said, I like that you talked about the workforce information. Uh, sounds like to me, you've done a lot with that and and helping people, uh, AI readiness, emotional leadership, adult learning, all of those things I saw from you in reading your bio and listening to your sessions. So with that said, I do do have some questions before we uh some rapid fun questions. I'm gonna start with the fun stuff first. Okay, great. So what do you think is one great leadership habit everyone should develop?

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Yes, and the response is self-leadership, which is kind of an umbrella term, but self-leadership, I believe strongly that who are we to lead other people if we cannot properly lead ourselves? And self-leadership, which is not that common of a term, it just refers to the ability to operate in a space where you have influence and inspiration as well as control around your professional and personal outcomes. So, really taking inventory of what you're able to do, what's within your locus of control, and really doing the internal work, if you will. So it's kind of like a two-part response.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Wow, yeah, I like that. I love it. So, speaking of that, and we both talk a lot about AI and mastery and tools and things of that nature. What would be the one tool you would say someone should use regularly? And many people will say, I'm just I'm gonna let you speak first and then I'm gonna come in here.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Okay, yes. I love this conversation around um tools, and I do find that tends to be kind of where it starts and ends. But we want to also think about the transformation of set tools that we're using. And I like to pretty much keep it simple. I might use the same three to five tools, and that's it. I'm not really like a tool hungry person, um, but I do find, I believe with Gemini, there is a component there with Note LLM that is very useful for people who are in a space of needing to organize a lot of information. And also, I found that is very resourceful for someone like myself if I'm doing um presentations, things of that nature, it's very helpful.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

I I I love Gemini too. Um, as a professor, I found myself on that side of things and how I got this whole I guess uh theory of authority and all of that. It's not just theory, it's actually practice, and I have companies practicing it. But the tools to me is like you said, the Gemini and what you need that you find has been helpful in your practice. I think that a lot of those, the tools out here, whether it be chat or Gemini or Claude, and some of the tools we don't even talk about regularly, are great tools based on what you're trying to do. Like for me, I use um synthesia a lot when I'm making videos, especially for clients that need that video right there in the moment when I'm not there with them from a coaching perspective. And uh there are some other tools as well that I may pod I podcast a lot. I think I have five podcasts now. But I would never be able to duplicate myself five times if it wasn't for AI. So excuse me. I find that this this has been um tremendously helpful for me uh in that way, and that your comments about finding the right tools that work for you and what you're trying to do. So, do you have like recommendations that you would say, hey, list these things first and then you'd know which tool may be better, or you can go out on the on one of those, Claude or Gemini, or even chat, and you can ask them and they'll tell you.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Yes, that's what I love about what I was gonna say. I love about chat. It will actually recommend to you other things. It doesn't like get jealous that you're utilizing other tools and things of that nature. And to your point, I just want to make a side note. Your videos are amazing. I love those videos that you have um that are done. They're very realistic emotion. And um, I to your point, are you utilizing 11 labs as well for the voice? Yes, I love 11 labs.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

I love it, I love it. As a matter of fact, 11 labs is used and uh one of my uh services, uh, the mentor, the coach mayor. I have a coach mayor where I talked about, you talked to me, you we spoke about earlier the learning archetype assessments. And Coach Mayor, I use 11 alive, uh 11 labs rather, to come on. And that is what speaks to my clients about um uh, you know, when they're answering a question. So a student goes on it, and then they go through 11 laps, 11 labs pops up, they ask a question, and there comes the professor through 11 labs. And so I found that quite interesting. And um I started in this whole process, uh, Dr. Morton and I, who's my partner and Empowered Ad Pro and uh the coach mayor situation, you know, uh product. And he, who is another PhD, also we built the thing called um holographic professor. And 11 Labs, Nvidia, and a couple of others, as well as chat, help us to produce all of that. So the professor shows up on the spot.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I love that. That is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

You don't have to wait on the professor. So, and a lot of this we were just doing for fun because we were all professors. Uh, and and a lot of us are not full-time professors. We just we do it as a way to give back. And I love that. I I try to connect with people like yourself who are here first and foremost to give back. We have a very Christian background. We utilize that as our way to help others get involved and get to know and to educate them through that. But the right way, we have uh we're all seem to be very disciplined in our process. So I'm not asking you. Okay. Let me let me ask you one reflective question, real talk here. And we've been doing real talk since we've been on, and I'm loving this. Um, what's the one thing you think professionals may want to start doing this month, considering this is the month we see a lot of graduations starting this month and into June? Uh, what is the one thing that you think they should start doing?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yes, that is an excellent question. Um, because there's so many factors with uh graduations and it's also mental health awareness month as well. Um, what I do think is important for professionals, really at all levels, is valuable visibility. If there's a way that they're able to establish who they are beyond what they do, right? So creating a brand, especially in the world we live in today, where if everyone is doing the same thing, what are the ways that someone will stand out? And I think that is through value visibility. So creating a brand for yourself beyond um just showing up. And I know that your podcast with Dr. Jamie goes into branding and things of that nature, but I think that's really important because when I came out of school many moons ago, like that wasn't something really highlighted. I think I had like one course that wasn't that great on um resume writing and presentation for interviews, but it really didn't prepare me to be good at it. So I really struggled actually. That's what led, I kind of fell forward. And that's what kind of led into me doing the work that I do now, even to your earlier point. Service, um I volunteered for six years as a volunteer free coach for long-term unemployed, a long-term unemployed that were these are people who were, for lack of a better term, seasoned in the workforce, but they were struggling to get back in. Yeah, so it was a special program that uh New Jersey ran for about five to six years, and it was just a special program. So it didn't um continue beyond that. But for six years, I was a volunteer uh with that organization, and I think it's important that people at all levels have some sort of brand strategy, and and it goes, you know, beyond you know, the basics of, you know, I do this one thing, right? I am a consultant, but you want to get around that. Like what more is it to you, right? Uh beyond that that makes you unique and social.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Yes, I love that. I love that. And and it's so important. I mean, I and guys, trust me, we did not practice this. Um uh the article I put out this morning on you going to in order to lead in the career article. I write the Saturday career article I've written for Lou Dan now for since the pandemic. And in that article, I talk about how now it's great to have your degree and all of that great, those great things. Don't I'm not putting that down because I of course I'm in education, so why would I? But the bigger thing here is also to demonstrate what it is you do. And I think that for for me as well as for you and others I see out there, I I connect with you or uh communicate with you and go beyond just that like or otherwise or finding ways that I can contribute to your world as well as your contributing to my world because you have demonstrated what you can do. I didn't just guess it, it wasn't just on a resume. I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears. And that in and of itself, I agree with you, is going to be the future of who picks you up. And uh we say brand, but I think it's a little bit deeper. It's not just how you look or how you talk or how you speak or and things of that nature, but is what do you demonstrate in your social environment, social media environment that we can pick up on that becomes part of your portfolio of what you're saying that you can actually do. I could say all day long, for example, I built 22 companies. But unless I show examples of that and have it out there and show the results from financials, tax returns, things of that nature, I didn't do anything. I could say, hey, otherwise I'm this person. I build these products that are uh market viable products with market viable results. That's the kind of thing people are going to want to see. Uh yesterday I did a girl, I did my first app. I finally got through and I promised my granddaughter this game. A career game, because I thought she's in high school, she's gonna need this. She's they need to, she loves to play games, rather. Every time she comes to my house to spend time, she gets out of all these games that we have to play. We went shopping one Christmas and we bought like I don't know, four or five hundred dollars worth of games because she needed games in our little place that we call we have a family cottage, and we that's where we come to connect with each other at. But anyway, she loves games, so I said, I'm gonna make her a game. So I made her a game. And I I said, okay. Then my kids said, Well, mom, nobody plays uh board games anymore. I'm like, really? Well, you know, me and my, you know, their uh my granddaughter does. We like to play games online, and I was like, okay, so I'm gonna I'm gonna try that. I'm gonna try that. So uh I was challenged, replete how to challenge anybody who can make a game in a day. Well, I made a game, but it was too complex, and I made it around Air Force Learn, uh airport learning, because that's where my mind goes. It goes way deep, charity. It's too deep. Anyway, so I came back with the game. I said, you know what? I'm gonna do that game. And so yesterday I had some downtime while I was waiting on my students to post stuff and I was online with them. And so I said, This could be running over here while I'm on another computer working with my students. And sure enough, I ran that thing and I finally got it. But it was it was a task, it wasn't easy. And uh, before I even did all of that, I didn't know that you had to get approved from Apple first to be a

SPEAKER_01 22:37

app builder so they do a background check on you before they even do your app it was amazing it was amazing now have you ever built an app i have a prototype out i will say i have a prototype i'm not gonna say i have like an a full fledged app that people can buy into but i have like a prototype for one and i was gonna add uh one of my clients actually did something similar to yourself so she built well she built more than one app one was one is for food sustainability in her state of Georgia and another one the first one was a game for her daughter who is neurodivergent so it's like a a game to help with stress and things in that nature and I was very impressed with um how she put it together and um the different you know she explained the different challenges that I actually meant to have her as a guest but because our schedules hadn't been meshing um recently I was supposed to actually have her as a guest yesterday but our schedules hadn't been aligned but I wanted her to definitely share her journey because I was like whoa you have a whole app you know and I love this idea that you already are thinking you know hey I can make this app like your your mind has so much you know so many levels to it where it's like we can create you know we can create so much with the power of emerging technologies um to your point and I think it helps us to to be more um more human really in certain ways as well so I love I love what you're what you're doing because we we need that we need more people who are like practical but also hey these are personal ways that we can be empowered as well like not just business but also in in other um ways so I love what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Oh my gosh you know what charity we are so much alike and that's well I'm I'm trying to be like you when I grew up you said you said 22 businesses I'm trying to be like that well I build them and it's just I think it's a hobby of building them and and then you offload them not offload this in a bad way but you're finding others who are having a hard time and that's what I do having a hard time building their own business I get it started and I find people that may like that idea but they say oh I can't do it and then um that becomes a marriage with the the two between me and them and their product they just have to have the energy and the cinema to really run that company because I'm on to the next thing.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

And I love it. It's like you create the infrastructure if you will I I kind of feel like that maybe maybe not to the extent of fully building the business but just kind of being that kind of entrepreneur to be like here's I can plant the seeds of strategy of how it can be structured. But I don't know if I want to do all the the building and see through and all that but I I definitely can come in and with with a quick strategy and just I I love that I love that connect it works because everybody don't know uh or have the background I mean for me I have an accounting background from doing tax returns understanding audits of tax returns to ERISA compliance socks all of that uh governance type thing uh testing and understanding that to all the way from running a business out of nowhere and having no experience for the types of businesses that my clients have asked me to come in and run before actually doing this.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

And you you just marry all that stuff together or build it together in a recipe and you can do lots of different things but everybody don't have that and you you don't have to have that but you may have the resources to really build a business. So we'll have to talk more about that. Absolutely in another show.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

But as we wrap up here I'd like to know what gives you hope about the future of work because a lot of people are negative about the future of work but what gives you hope about the future of work wow I love that question the way it's framed because you said what gives you hope about the future of work and not so much the harm and I I do definitely understand the sentiment of some people who are approaching things from kind of this um things are being taken away as opposed to things being added. And it's so interesting because I had a really fascinating conversation with someone yesterday about this whole you know future of work and what I believe it to be. And to an earlier point actually that you made that I think ties to the response is that to your point, branding is not really just you know it's not just you know a brand it's more so the story behind um one's identity and I do think that there's connection between identity and impact as well as innovation you know and you shared some amazing things that you're doing that are really fascinating to me. It's definitely exciting to hear I think the future of work it would lie in our ability to lean more into humanity you know there are a lot of things that to your point earlier that you made as well a lot of people are very educated and they may know a lot of things like have a lot of expertise in certain areas but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're able to speak to things they already do because they're already doing them especially very intelligent people that are high achieving it's kind of like they're already doing these things. So who are they to you know be pushy or or you know promote things and the bottom line is we will have to learn to be the solution. So that's above the structure that we're accustomed to so we are solutions. We are um going to be solutions to the challenges that will persist in humanity. So leaning into the more human aspect of having compassion emotional intelligence having the understanding to communicate to effectively collaborate as well like what we're doing now. When you're collaborating with other people who have knowledge in different areas than you, there's there's room for growth there's room for expansion and there is room uh for abundance with that. So when we contract and when we don't have those connections that's what can put us at a major deficit or if we're just relying on the traditional form of what we think work is as opposed to transformation that it will be inevitable. That's actually already happening. We're gonna have to refrage how we think about how we think about work how we think about you know if we can get to a place where we can be compensated for uh who we are so not not necessarily like you know you know this is your worth I don't I don't believe any job can pay your worth because there's no amount it's priceless. You know if I was like hey I need Dr. Marilyn Spring that's priceless because there's so many levels, right? So it's it's not something that you can put in like a tag on it's more like okay for these skills that are in demand currently what is the market value for those skills and understanding how that can be utilized strategically to put you in a place where you have security financially, right? Because we do need to have that practical way of making and you know making ends meet if you will but it's beyond you know just tradition we have to move to a place of transformation. And I do talk about you know that journey a bit in the book that a co-author of Women Work in Leadership it just really highlights some of the challenges that can happen when you're you're functioning but you're more so you're doing but you're not necessarily thriving in the areas of your unique zoning genius. So it's important that we also understand like what is our real potential because sometimes we're not operating in that at all. Like we're operating you know we're just kind of getting by. So I would want people to think of the future of work as being your your worth being paid for who you are and not having to like give up yourself in a way that you're burnt out or you know you feel you know like oh no I have to go to this I gotta go to this again and you're like crying or having nightmares. You don't want that. Because I I I'm saying I've actually been through that that's why I don't I I know now that I'm learning more it it shows me there's so much more that I can learn. That's what it shows me.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

So exactly and you know what you know what charity I am going to have you um if you don't mind I would love for you to write an article for my magazine okay I would like that and I think a conversation that you just had on the future of work would be beautiful. Thank you so much on top of that yes so and and and uh Live magazine I started because I want to hear voices from other people and people shouldn't have to pay all this money to just get knowledge. Yes you can type into chat GPT and and Gemini and Claude and all of that but check this out learning comes from a pattern that you set so what is it you want to learn and just you don't know like necessarily what's the next step to X, Y, or Z. And that's why we have structured learning in school because you get to go through that. Now maybe in the future we'll get to design our own degree program where we can do a lot of things but until then we education it's will always well not until then but education will always be important. It's just how you go about it and what you're trying to glean from it instead of before I think we were always majoring in something because the numbers said you can make a lot of money or you know that's going to be in high demand in 20 years. So we were going by what popular media was saying to us instead of to your point being that person that you want to be and contributing to society in the way which is what I heard from you without those words contributing to society in the way we want to and knowing that there's value in that I can talk to you all day charity I love how you uh reframed what I said because that's perfect. That's exactly what I was actually getting at our contributions they're connected to our compensation and even just our energy our energy especially for me anyway I'm very introspective so my energy is connected to my earnings you know and the potential of that expanding I think it is connected to community that's connected to collaborating and creating so we have those opportunities that I think a lot of people don't think of at all that just you know I don't know to your point I think you're right about even creating your own learning process and curriculum but lifelong learning is just really non-negotiable like it's going to be part of eternity exactly exactly you know just every class and I do love as we exit I'm sorry guys I know we're gonna exit here I do love even where plead or Gemini Claw all these people you know I've taken all their basic classes to understand what are you trying to get at or the advanced stuff I go into as a business owner because as a business owner I do get invited to tables and circles that the primary mainstream don't have the opportunity to do. And that is in and of itself priceless to me because I'm not just looking at the basic stuff. I'm one of your testers now for many of the new products that come out to see how it goes and to give feedback and to mentor and coach new businesses that are coming on on board with their products and services and how you expand those not just here in the US but in Europe and Asia and all these other countries I get that opportunity to do that and I'm loving it. And it I I I charity is like I get energy from just I'm like wow this is real fun. And I'm not after money necessarily and that I think also helps to open up the door for me because I'm more out to learn and then to apply it to help the people I'm trying to help. I love that. Thank you so much for being a guest today and uh we're gonna talk more I want you to come back when Dr. Jamie is you know here with us because I think I love you. And um in addition to that I do would like for you to write that article. Now we have our June issue coming up if you can make it for that we're putting it together I started putting it together yesterday and uh I think that article would be great because in the June article of Live we're talking about graduation and Father's day and everything that you said there I think it blends beautifully into that. So we're gonna make space for you in that in that in that edition the June issue.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

I love it love it love it and I appreciate you for including me there's actually a whole nother conversation I could talk about my father who he was active in um he was a computer scientist so I can definitely talk to about you know that experience and how you bring that into it yeah so we'll we'll talk and and I don't ask for people to put a whole lot in it just as if we were just having the conversation that's how I want you to do that article.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Don't worry about the beauty of the article and all that we'll take care of that just right from the heart. So anyway guys I want to thank Miss Charity McDonough this awesome lady who has brought us some great nuggets today on Two Doctors and a twist as our guest and you're gonna see her back again as our our guest uh once Dr. Jamie is back in we're gonna have her back up as well because I think the three of us can really have the ladies conversation that's not just about the ladies, but about a whole lot more. So thank you Charity any closing marks or any information you want to leave so that people again know how to contact you yes thank you again so much Dr.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Marilyn for having me I definitely look forward to rejoining uh with Dr. Jamie present. I've really enjoyed conversing with you and there definitely will be more conversations for sure. And I will just leave folks with I'm pretty much active on LinkedIn that's the best way to get in touch with me. I'm on there and I do believe Dr. Maryland has provided the details earlier when she provided the bio but I always just say your crown has been bought and paid for and those are words by Maya Angelo so your crown has been bought and paid for put it on your head and wear it.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

Oh how beautiful well thank you guys thank you for joining us today on Two Doctors in a twist thank you charity oh my gosh what a beautiful